This film producer champions queer voices
BENGALURU: Film producer Neeraj Churi has always championed LGBTQIA+ voices. Recently a film produced by him titled Ek Jagah Apni (A Place of Our Own) has been doing the rounds of many film festivals quite successfully like the Tokyo International Film Festival and our very own Bengaluru International Film Festival.
“To our surprise, the film managed to go to the South by Southwest film festival as well. It is one of the biggest festivals in the world. Very few Indian films go there, and this film is one of those few. It won the audience choice award (in the GLOBAL presented by MUBI category).
That definitely made us proud. Largely because we were able to take the stories of the Indian LGBTQIA+ community to the world and show it in its beauty, glory and nuances,” says Churi about Ek Jagah Apni, which was directed by the Ektara Collective.
Set in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, the film tells the story of two transgender women Laila and Roshni who, after being evicted from their rented place, are looking for an apartment in the city only to realise that their search for a home is also a search to find their place in society. The two actors who played Laila and Roshni, Manisha Soni and Muskan respectively, are trans women themselves.
“The two leads are members of the transgender community. They were not just involved in acting but in directorial aspects as well. This is what excited me to be a part of the project. Because when the subject is close to the story, the storytelling is authentic, and we get to see the nuances. Directors from the Ektara Collective were on location when the film was being shot and just seeing transgender actors acting, sort of reclaiming the space, was a sight to behold,” shares Churi.
A member of the queer community himself, Churi feels India is far away from an accurate representation of LGBTQIA+ voices in mainstream cinema. “We are leaps and bounds away from where we need to be. For a country that produces thousands of films, TV series and short films every year, we are not producing enough queer content. Whichever good queer films have come were made to make the masses aware of the queer community and their rights.
But there are other aspects to the LGBTQIA+ relationship, which are still not talked about. There are so many nuances that are still not addressed. It will be a while before the industry catches up. If you look at the number of queer content being created in Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, and the US, you will realise that India is not quite there yet,” explains the London-based producer.
Churi is now planning to give Ek Jagah Apni a theatrical release in India. “We are presently looking for interested distributors. We have the censor certificate ready. The Central Board of Film Certification has already taken a look at the film and has passed it with a ‘U’ certificate without any single cut,” he concludes, adding that his team is currently developing a feature film that has been picked by the Venice Biennale workshops (associated with the Venice International Film Festival) for mentorship.
Film producer Neeraj Churi speaks about his film Ek Jagah Apni, which was recently featured at the Bengaluru International Film Festival, having queer actors in the cast and Indian representation of the LGBTQIA+ community in films